MuleSkinner Lodge's street side entrance and parking of rock from the Kansas River. One of the original sheds of the old homestead to the left is still in use. The parking area is of unique stones from the Kansas River. West entrance to the MuleSkinner Lodge - the light's always on.

Something about the Lodge:

The Lodge is a small renovated 70 year old barn memorializing the life of my beloved deceased son, Tim Kern, a naturalist and outdoorsman. Tim was a unique individual, and in his memory every facet of this old building is also unique, methodically and meticulously renovated with loving hands. We preserved everything possible from the original structure and tried to utilized each material in some way to retain the ambiance of an old barn.

The Old Muleskinners:

Before modern farm tractors were common, much farm work was done by mules, and the men and women who worked and handled the mules were called “Mule Skinners”. So we have named our lodge after those Muleskinners in memory of Tim who trained mules for competition jumping, trail riding and hunting.

About the Building and Property:

South exposure, full front entrance with natural amphitheatre, ravine, creek and meadows to the right.

The main lodge building was a 20' x 40' old barn, the exterior was originally constructed with six inch yellow pine lap siding. The boards were badly weathered but after power washing, drying and sanding, they made good use ‘inside’ as polyurethaned wall boards constructed at angles. Fir 2x6s were then purchased, routed, sanded, stained and made into interlocking half logs for the outside. Since it’s renovation, we’ve surrounded the lodge building with a 650 square foot composition deck, and have covered most of the deck with a roof. The lodge property consists of 20 acres of Kansas Certified Wildlife Habitat and Kansas Certified Tree Farm land, situated on Raccoon Ridge. No matter in what season you visit us, you’ll have great views overlooking the ravine, a creek, and a lovely meadow adjacent to the tiny, old, quaint town of Denison, Kansas.

A little over a hundred years ago, the property was the site of the Denison Fair Grounds. White Tail deer love to forage the bluegrass that still recovers whenever and wherever the brush is removed from the land. The bluegrass is undoubtedly remnant from the fairgrounds era. It is a sheer joy to watch them occasionally nipping the grass and honeysuckle leaves in the meadow across the ravine from the lodge. As we planted the many trees, I was led to feel, as it was with King Thesus of Crete and his son, that the trees were extensions of my son’s life and that, to me, was consoling. There were many species of trees already established on the property, and now many new ones including a small orchard. Both the wildlife habitat and the tree farm are the focus of much care and have been methodically planned with the Kansas Forestry and Wildlife for a balance to benefit both wildlife and trees.